Event: EU Economics Security

On 4 April 2024, Utrecht University has hosted Mona Paulsen (London School of Economics) and Astrid Pepermans (Vrije Universiteit Brussel & EGMONT - Royal Institute for International Relations) for the seminar to reflect upon the EU’s Economic Security. The seminar was organized by Machiko Kanetake and Thomas Verellen in the framework of the RENFORCE research programme and IOS EU platform.

The EU’s economic security packages

In January 2024, the European Commission released a ‘comprehensive trade, investment, and research package’ on the EU’s Economic Security. This package is part of the steps to implement the European Economic Security Strategy announced in 2023. According to the Commission, the Union’s economic security is facing multitudes of ‘risks’ due to increasing geopolitical tensions. In order to counter risks, the Commission tries to mobilise, not only governments and large companies, but also small and medium-sized companies, universities, and researchers therein. These public and private actors are expected to be much more aware of risks and take actions as part of the apparatus of the strategy. Yet many fundamental questions remain: where exactly does the EU’s trade and investment meet with ‘security’, who constructs ‘security’, what are risk assessment parameters, and, most importantly, what safeguards are available to prevent detrimental consequences? The aim of the seminar was to ‘contextualise’ the EU’s economic security narrative.

Historical & comparative perspectives

During the seminar, Mona Paulsen discussed her recent work on the past, present and future of economic security in the multilateral trading system (see link to her paper here). She drew on her recent archival research in which she looked at how the US in the early days of the GATT combined a commitment to trade liberalization with efforts to bolster its own economic security and that of its allies, both through unilateral means and informal alliance building to secure access to resources.

Drawing on an Egmont policy brief she wrote on the topic (see link to her policy brief here), Astrid Pepermans discussed the evolving role of economic security in China's economic and trade policies, with economic security now being embedded in a holistic security concept which, apart from economic security, also encompasses political security. Compared to China's assertiveness, the EU may seem reactive, and its policies fragmented. This invited discussions regarding whether a more proactive approach was needed.